This is the fifth and final post in May to commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental Health America’s websiteat http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/may has scores of ideas to help make people more aware about the importance of good mental health.

Conventional wisdom has long held that people with psychiatric disabilities can’t handle the stress of well-paying, responsible careers. However, research is finding that people with bipolar disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, and other major mental illnesses are pursuing, finding, and retaining successful professional positions. Here are some examples.

1. A psychiatric disability doesn’t automatically put a cap on a career. Research indicates that there is no significant relationship between diagnosis and educational attainment, income, status, type of job, or current employment.

Having a major mental illness doesn’t have to stand in the way of working full time, earning an advanced degree, holding a significant job, or assuming increasing amounts of responsibility at work. Of course, the individual may have to work harder to achieve his or her goals, but they aren’t out of reach just because someone is diagnosed with a disability.

2. People with psychiatric disabilities have been successful in all types of careers. Naturally, many consumers of mental health services go on to work in mental health self-help and advocacy, but this isn’t the only field that’s open. Others work in a wide range of health and social services positions as well as technology, sales, and other non-helping professions.

3. A psychiatric disability doesn’t have to keep the individual at the bottom of the corporate ladder. An estimated 18% of participants in a Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation study have “executive-level” jobs; CEO, president, or another position with primary responsibility and control over resources. Still more are middle managers.

4. Successful treatment is an important part of achievement. Many individuals have been hospitalized and continue to take psychotropic medications and/or see a therapist – but that hasn’t prevented them from harnessing their drive and desire to succeed. Being treated with a psychiatric disability shouldn’t hold someone back. In fact, it might even make it possible for the individual to go farther than ever before.

This is the fourth in a series of posts in May to commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental Health America’s website at http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/may has scores of ideas to help make people more aware about the importance of good mental health.

By Michael Orban

After speaking with several veterans I’d like to help collect some new thoughts on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To date, through press releases most mental health professionals are the only community voice on PTSD. They continue to express PTSD with the same worn-out statistics and confusing definitions.

Considering that we are the veterans experiencing these reactions after deployment, doesn’t it make sense for us to develop an equally important voice on PTSD?

** A friend and Vietnam veteran with severe PTSD symptoms now suffers from chronic fatigue. He was a photographer in Vietnam who had to go in after battles and photograph the aftermath before bodies were removed. He doesn’t feel he is as deserving of PTSD treatment as those who experienced more combat.

** A woman I met who served in the Air Force never saw combat or violence. Her job was to load onto planes and send home the caskets of soldiers killed in battle. She too believes herself less qualified to seek treatment for her PTSD.

* Can we develop a strong public message that no single person or military service is qualified to judge who seeks treatment? Can we send a strong and united message on this issue to everyone who served?

* Can we change the public’s perception that PTSD is a condition that sufferers will simply have to spend a lifetime managing while the rest of the world goes on to enjoy the pleasures and joys in life? Can we, instead, promote the idea that our war experiences and readjustment/PTSD are part of our total life experience and that we too can envision a goal of experiencing the joys in life?

I believe it is time for veterans and families to speak out, refresh and expand the understanding of PTSD.

This is just an introduction to these topics. Let me know your ideas and suggestions. Please share this with other veterans. Let me know your comments and suggestions by emailing me at: mso.orban@gmail.com.

Michael Orban is a speaker on PTSD and the author of “Souled Out.” As a military veteran, Michael Orban has defeated combat PTSD and shares his insights in his own words. He has learned what you could benefit from understanding. For more information, visit http://www.mikeorbanptsd.com. Note: This article originally appeared as part of the “Brown Bagger” insert in the May issue of Employee Assistance Report (EAR). For more information or a sample copy, check out the “Employee Assistance Professionals” tab at http://www.impact-publications.com.

Each year, EAPA’s annual awards program recognizes and celebrates the achievement of individuals and organizations that have distinguished themselves through their contributions to the EA profession and the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA). http://www.eapassn.org.

Selection of award recipients is the responsibility of the EAPA Awards and Honors Committee.

The 2014 EAPA Annual Awards will be presented during EAPA’s 2014 Annual World EAP Conference in Orlando, Fla.

Membership in the Awards Committee will require a total time commitment of two to four hours to review the electronically submitted award nominations (one to two hours) and participate in a one- to two-hour conference call to discuss and decide on award winners.

The committee is looking for interested U.S. and non-U.S. members, working in external, internal and labor EA settings, to represent the diversity of EAPA’s membership.

Members of the committee are not eligible to receive an individual award. If you are interested in serving on the committee, send an email to webeditor@eapassn.org. Include a brief description of your current and previous roles as an EA professional. Questions can be sent to the same address.

This is the third in a series of posts in May to commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental Health America’s website at http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/may has scores of ideas to help make people more aware about the importance of good mental health.

DISability is not the same thing as INability, and people with mental health issues are no different. While it’s true that a mental illness or condition may interfere with one’s ability to function at work – it’s also true that it may have no effect at all!

The employer should always ask the person with a disability what accommodations that he/she needs to be successful at work. The individual with the impairment often knows best. However, if the person isn’t sure, the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) maintains scores of possible solutions on a wide variety of disabilities, or its staff can assist. Check out: http://askjan.org.

Possible limitations & solutions

* Difficulty handling multiple tasks: The individual may have trouble managing assignments, setting priorities or meeting deadlines. For instance, he/she may not know how to decide which tasks to do first in order to complete a project by its due date.

* Possible solutions: Break larger projects into more manageable tasks; meet regularly with the employee and/or job coach to help prioritize or estimate how long it will take to meet a deadline.

* Difficulty interacting with others: For instance, the person may e too shy to talk with co-workers at breaks, or he/she may have trouble figuring out “how things work around here.”

* Possible solution: Pair the new employee with a co-worker who can introduce him/her around and show the individual the ropes.

* Difficulty adapting to change: Unexpected changes at work, such as new rules, job accommodations or a new supervisor and/or co-workers, may be unusually stressful. For example, it may take the individual longer to learn new tasks or he/she may feel especially anxious around new co-workers.

* Possible solutions: Give the employee advance warning of changes as much as possible; make a special effort to introduce new co-workers to the employee; stress to the employee that he/she needs to notify new supervisors of individual needs.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced the availability of up to $150 million in funding through a new Job-Driven National Emergency Grant program to train workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own for jobs in high-demand industries.

These investments will help create or expand employer partnerships that provide opportunities for on-the-job training, Registered Apprenticeships www.dol.eta.gov/ea or other occupational training that results in an industry-recognized credential. Funding will also be used to provide services, such as coaching, counseling and direct job placement, which help connect laid-off workers, including the long-term unemployed, with available jobs.

Focusing funding on proven, job-driven training strategies is a key component of the Obama administration’s agenda to connect ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.

In addition to expanding work-based learning strategies – which recent studies show increase employment and earnings outcomes – grantees will also develop strong partnerships between workforce and industry organizations and align services with other federal, state or local programs, such as Unemployment Insurance http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/unemployment-insurance, Workforce Investment Act http://www.doleta.gov/usworkforce/wia/act.cfm, and Trade Adjustment Assistance programs. Funds may also be used to implement innovative approaches, such as:

* Job coaching, navigation and job-matching models that help dislocated workers, particularly the long-term unemployed, receive the specialized services they need to rapidly re-enter the workforce;

Up to $150 million in grants ranging from $500,000 to $6 million are being made available to states, territories and federally-recognized tribes through the Workforce Investment Act Dislocated Worker National Reserve www.cfda.gov fund. Applications must be received by May 27 to be considered.

This is the second in a series of posts in May to commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental Health America’s website athttp://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/may has scores of ideas to help make people more aware about the importance of good mental health.

With American troops at war for over a decade, clinicians suspect that some veterans are suffering from “moral injuries.” These are wounds caused from having “done something,” or having “failed to stop something” that violates the individual’s moral code.

According to the National Center for PTSD .. http://www.ptsd.va.govin the context of war, moral injuries may stem from direct participation in acts of combat, such as killing or harming others, or indirect acts, such as witnessing death or dying, failing to prevent immoral acts of others, or giving or receiving orders that are perceived as gross moral violations.

In terms of the aftermath of moral injuries, transgressive acts may result in haunting states of inner conflict and turmoil. Emotional responses may include:

* Shame (e.g. “I am an evil terrible person; I am unforgiveable”);

* Guilt;

* Anxiety about possible consequences; and

* Anger about betrayal-based moral injuries.

Behavioral manifestations of moral injuries may include:

* Alienation (e.g. purposelessness and/or social instability caused by a breakdown in standards and values);

* Withdrawal and self-condemnation;

* Self-harm (e.g. suicidal thoughts or attempts); and

* Alcohol or other drug use.

Although the constructs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moral injury overlap, each has unique components that make them separable consequences of war and other traumatic contexts:

* PTSD is a mental disorder that requires a diagnosis. Moral injury, conversely, is a dimensional problem – there is no threshold for the presence of moral injury. Rather, at a given point in time, a veteran may have none, or mild to extreme manifestations.

Consequently, it is important to assess mental health symptoms and moral injury as separate manifestations of war trauma to form a comprehensive clinical picture, and provide the most relevant treatment.

Additional sources: Shira Maguen, Ph.D. and Brett Litz, Ph.D., U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This article should not be construed as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

This is the first in a series of posts in May to commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental Health America’s website athttp://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/may has scores of ideas to help you make people more aware about the importance of good mental health.

In a new study, researchers from the University at Albany SUNY discovered that although many adults do not have a formal psychiatric diagnosis, they still have mental health symptoms that interfere with full participation in the workforce.

The investigators believe interventions are necessary to assist employees who meet diagnostic criteria for mental illness and for those with sub-clinical levels of symptoms.

For instance, cases of undiagnosed depression and anxiety often cause insomnia and emotional distress, conditions that increase absenteeism and presenteeism (“working” but not being very engaged in one’s job), thereby lowering productivity.

The analysis used a novel statistical modeling approach that captured the effects of mental health symptoms in individuals, whether or not they had clinically diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Patients with mental health issues are usually treated according to their symptoms, rather than any diagnosis. Social Security and other disability programs with skyrocketing enrollments also focus less on diagnosis and more on individuals’ capacity for work.

The results show that many Americans who don’t meet diagnostic criteria still have mental health symptoms that interfere with their work. From a research standpoint, the authors suggest that considering non-diagnosed people as “healthy” is likely to underestimate the true impact of mental health symptoms on the workforce.